Wrathful Guardians of Buddhism - Aesthetics and Mythology

Kubera or Vaisravana, the God of Wealth

According
to Hindu mythology, Kubera was the son of a sage
called ‘Visravas’, hence his patronymic Vaisravana.
He is said to have performed austerities for a
thousand years, in reward for which Brahma, the
Creator, gave him immortality and made him god
of wealth, guardian of all the treasures of the
earth, which he was to give out to whom they were
destined.

Kubera’s abode was said to be
mount Kailash; but when Brahma appointed him God
of Riches, he gave him Lanka (Ceylon) as his capital,
and presented him, according to the Mahabharata,
with the car pushpaka, which was of immense size
and ‘moved at the owner’s will at marvellous speed’.

Kubera is also worshipped by
the Buddhists, where he is looked upon as the
guardian of the North. His characteristic symbol
is the mongoose, often shown vomiting jewels.
In the Buddhist pantheon he is also known as Jambhala,
probably from the jambhara (lemon) he carries
in his hand. He is always represented corpulent
and covered with jewels. His right foot is generally
pendant and supported by a lotus-flower on which
is a conch shell.

Hayagriva: The Horse-necked one

Hayagriva
is worshipped in Tibet principally by horse-dealers
because he is believed to frighten away demons
by neighing like a horse. When invoked, he is
said to announce his coming by neighing, which
accounts for the presence of a horse’s head, his
distinctive mark, in his head-dress. The horse’s
head neighs loudly, and the sound is said to pierce
all false appearances of substantiality, revealing
the shining reality of freedom. His mantra contains
the following verse:

"I request that you protect all
horses. Increase the number of mares. For from
the mother of the horse many supreme horses will
be born. Please disperse the obstacles on the
Path and reveal the right direction."

Hayagriva is a wrathful manifestation
of Avalokiteshvara. There are believed to be 108
forms of Hayagriva. His special ability is to
cure diseases, especially skin diseases even as
serious as leprosy, which is said to be caused
by the Nagas (malignant water spirits with serpent
bodies).

In his simplest form he is depicted
with one face, two arms and two legs. Everything
about him is terrific-his scowling face with three
glaring eyes, his roaring mouth with protruding
fangs, his pose of warrior’s aggressiveness, his
broad belly bulging with inner energy, his sword
raised threateningly in his right hand, his left
hand raised in a threatening gesture and his snake
ornaments. His beautiful, terrific aspect expresses
compassion’s fierce determination to help us overcome
inner egotistic addictions and outer obstructions.

Palden Lhamo: The Goddess

Palden
Lhamo is the only female among the eight great
dharampalas. She is a protectress of Buddhist
governments everywhere, including the Dalai Lamas
and their government in Lhasa. She was also a
protectress of imperial China from the Yuan dynasty
in the thirteenth century to the end of the Qing
dynasty in the twentieth century.

In India, Palden Lhamo is also
known as Shri Devi. She is considered a wrathful
manifestation of Saraswati, the goddess of learning,
eloquent speech, and music. Another of her manifestation
is Chamundi, the consort of Yama.

Being the only goddess defender
of the dharma, she is said to have been armed
by the gods themselves. Hevajra gave her two dice
to determine the life of men, Brahma gave her
a fan of peacock’s feathers, and from Vishnu she
received two luminous objects, of which she wears
one in her headdress., while the other hangs over
her navel. Kubera, the god of Wealth, gave her
a lion, which she wears in her right ear; and
Nanda, the serpent god, gave her a serpent, which
hangs from her left ear. From Vajrapani she received
a hammer. Other gods gave her a mule, whose covering
is the skin of a Yaksha or demon, and the reins
are venomous serpents. She is always shown seated
sideways on this mule.

In addition, Lhamo has an extensive
retinue of fierce supporters whose portrayal has
resulted in some of the most complex, densely
composed paintings in the whole of Tibetan art.
These grotesque depictions of Lhamo are visions
of a kind of compassionate activity, as her story
makes clear: She is said to have been married
to a bloodthirsty warring king who refused all
her entreaties to stop his wanton killing. She
finally issued an ultimatum: if he wouldn’t stop
the killing, she would personally slay their child
so the king would experience for himself the pain
that his warring caused to others. He did not
stop, she carried out her threat, and his loss
finally did bring him to a halt. She is often
depicted carrying her dead son’s body with her
on her mule, showing that she will stop at nothing
to achieve peace.

Tshangs Pa or ‘White Brahma’

Brahma,
one of the most important gods of the Hindu pantheon,
occupies only a secondary position in Tibetan
Buddhism. His Tibetan name is Tshangs pa, and
under this term, the ordinary four-headed and
two handed form of Brahma is understood, represented
in accordance with Indian iconographic concepts.
More frequently, however, one encounters in Tibetan
religious art the representation of a white, one
headed and two-handed god named Tshangs pa dkar
po, “the white Tshangs pa”. According to the Sadhanas,
this god too is identified with Brahma. He is
represented seated on a white horse, brandishing
a sword, and sometimes carrying a banner. He is
a warrior god, but not so ferocious in aspect.
Behind his crown is a turban, in which there is
a conch-shell, and he wears flowing garments and
long sleeves.

Though the legend behind his origin
does not detail his association with Brahma, it
nevertheless is an interesting one:

Long time in the past, a couple
gave birth to a son whom they named Tshangpa karpo.
He grew up endowed with full manly attributes,
and rode across the cosmos on a super-horse of
golden velocity. In daytime he rode across the
sky and at night he descended to the ground.

At one time he went up into heaven.
There he seduced a goddess girl named Dhersang,
and stole the god’s wish-fulfilling jewel. But
he was stopped by the guardians of heaven who
grabbed him by his tongue and flung him to the
ground, took back the jewel in his hand, and also
took his life-heart. He was also betrothed to
the above goddess girl.

Dissatisfied by his ‘defeat’,
he continued making cosmic journeys on his unique
mount. A moment came when he started killing all
males he came across and forcibly fornicated with
all the females he saw. One day he came across
the goddess Ekazati. Intending to disturb her,
he started taking liberties. The goddess became
angry and struck him with her turquoise ornamented
silk breech-cloth. It hit him on his thigh and
he became lame. Her striking him thus is fraught
with symbolic interpretations since the myth further
states that immediately after he was transformed
into a protective deity. Her retaliation was not
an assault in a physical sense. It was an attack
on the negative part of his psyche, which was
persuaded to transform itself into unambiguous
and affirmative action. Thus his immense energies
were channelised into constructive and worthy
action, namely guarding the dharma and protection
of the faithful. In a historical sense this represents
the integration of the uncivilized shamans of
the ancient Bon religion of Tibet into the realm
of the dharma, by the great master Padmasambhava.

Begtse: The God of War

This
ferocious warrior, in armour and wearing Mongolian
boots appeared in the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon
only in the second half of the 16th century, the
last one to join the group of the Eight Dharma
Protectors.

According to legend, Begtse appeared
before the Dalai Lama, who was heading an army
of animals. The Dalai Lama had been summoned from
Tibet by the powerful Mongol King Altan Khan to
convert the Mongols to Buddhism. Finding himself
thus confronted, the Dalai Lama transformed himself
into the four-armed Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva
of compassion, with two of his hands at his breast
in the ‘prayer’ mudra. The footsteps of his horse
left the marks of Avalokiteshvara’s mantra, ‘Om
mani padme hum!’ on the sands. Witnessing this
miracle, Begtse became convinced of the dharma’s
superiority and submitted himself, converting
to Buddhism. This terrible deity is thus said
to symbolize the conversion of the Mongols to
Buddhism.

He is represented with all the
ornaments of the Dharampala, brandishing a sword
in his right hand, the handle of which is in the
shape of a scorpion. His left hand holds the orange
heart of an enemy near his mouth, clutching at
the same time a bow and an arrow. He tramples
upon the corpse of a man with his left foot and
the carcass of a horse with his right foot. His
three eyes are full of fury directed at the enemies
of the dharma.

The conception and visualization
of these ferocious forms represents a landmark
in the development of esoteric human thought.
A product of fertile and imaginative minds, they
represent the pinnacle of creative human endeavor.
Indeed in man’s eternal search to understand the
mysterious force that is nature, these ideas represent
a significant step forward.

We hope you have enjoyed reading the article. Any comments or feedback that you may have will be greatly appreciated.Please send your feedback to feedback@exoticindiaart.com.

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Mahakala: The Great Black One is wrong interpretation of the meaning KALA. KALA means TIME, not BLACK.

by Sugato Goswami on 8th Jun 2011

Thank you for your article about the wrathful guardians of Buddhism. I'm just back from a trip in Laddakh where I have admired the monasteries' paintings without understanding them. Your article gave me better comprehension and interesting details about the legends and their functions in buddhism.

I haven't found such good information in other sites.

Best regards,

by Jocelyne Delarue on 8th Aug 2009

The information on Palden Lhamo is quite off. The skin on her donkey is her son. She killed her son because her husband was persecuting Buddhists on the island of Lanka, and she saw that her son would complete the job. She also often carries a sack of disease, is the primary protector deity of Tibet and the Dalai Lamas, etc.

by J C on 29th Apr 2009

hi anybody known or heard about JHAMBALA (the hidden city) still exists.

My sister had a dream, she saw a place called Jhambala &amp; the king name called &quot;prithinga raja&quot; am not sure about the name. but the name is similar to this. i didn't believe on this &amp; i thought of searching it in google i saw the word Jhambala is exists &amp; Myths are there. please mail me if u find any inofrmation about this,

this explains my attitude, and the fire that consumes my soul. indignant wrath like the white hot thunderbolt...
compassion for all sentient beings and the wrath of an asura.... thank you.
&quot;vajra&quot;

by todd perkis on 27th Dec 2005

wey interesting

by johnny hoeiby on 10th Dec 2005

Another excellent article on Buddhist history and sacred images. Your site is one of the best for helping people understand the vast richness of this subject. Thank you for doing this. LuminQuest, --www.SpiritualSymbology.com

by LuminQuest on 19th Apr 2004

I love this article, especially the art work, please, when you sell the art works , keep some sort of record. I return constantly to the article on mahakala and Avalokiteshvara, I have not found a rival on the internet that has such a rich source of beautiful buddhist artwork

I was pleased and informed by this exceptional article. The combination of erudition and readablity was striking, and I thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with us.

by Donnalee on 21st Jan 2002

The summary of wrathful deities was excellent. I really enjoyed reading it. It is especially helpful that there are corresponding links. I rarely forward mail that I receive but this is going to be an exception. I know a few people who will also learn something from this. Thank you for sharing!

by Jen on 3rd May 2001

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"Iconographic representations tend to show the dakini as a young, naked figure in a dancing posture, often holding a skull cup filled with menstrual blood or the elixir of life in one hand, and a curved knife in the other. She may wear a garland of human skulls, with a trident staff leaning against her shoulder. Her hair is usually wild and hanging down her back, and her face often wrathful in expression, as she dances on top of a corpse, which represents her complete mastery over ego and ignorance. Practitioners often claim to hear the clacking of her bone adornments as the dakinis indulge in their vigorous movement. Indeed these unrestrained damsels appear to revel in freedom of every kind."

"...there exists in Buddhism the concept of a rainbow body... the rainbow body signifies the awakening of the inner self to the complete reservoir of terrestrial knowledge that it is possible to access before stepping over the threshold to the state of Nirvana..."

"Rites and rituals are an essential part of Tibetan religion and reflect its practical side. Not restricted to temples alone, they are performed in a variety of places and circumstances, for a myriad of purposes. Daily ceremonies are conducted in temples, although they are perhaps not so elaborate as those that take place in Hindu temples in India and Nepal."

"Each of the three forms of Mahakala has some distinctly different qualities and aspects.... The continuous counting of the rosary is a symbol of perpetual activity, which Mahakala achieves on a cosmic scale.... An elephant-headed entity lying crushed under his legs represents our instinctive, primary animal force and urge... The blazing fire surrounding him demonstrates his powerful energy out to consume all neurotic states of minds.... Mahakala's typical blackness symbolizes his all-embracing, comprehensive nature, because it is the hue into which all other colors merge; it absorbs and dissolves them. Just as all colors disappear in black, so do all names and forms melt into that of Mahakala. Black is also the total absence of color, again signifying the nature of Mahakala as ultimate reality.... He is the transcendent-time (maha-kala), absolute, eternal, measureless, and ever present."